Who must comply with Country of Origin Labelling for food (CoOL Information Standard)?

Food sold in Australia must carry country-of-origin labelling per the 2016 Information Standard.

The Country of Origin Food Labelling Information Standard 2016 (made under the ACL) requires priority food sold in retail to carry CoOL labels including the kangaroo logo for products made/grown/produced/packed in Australia, plus the percentage of Australian-sourced ingredients on a coloured bar chart.

Applies only if you supply priority food (CoOL Information Standard). Whether it applies turns on a fact that no industry, structure or size settles on its own.

How the regulator frames it: Retailers and food manufacturers supplying priority food in Australia.

What triggers it: Supplying priority food (most food not consumed as it leaves the supplier) at retail.

Jurisdiction: Commonwealth law, so the test is the same in every state and territory.

Outcome across the 35 industries Rules Mate maps (2 of 35: only if a further fact applies; 33 of 35: no).

Structure does not change the answer in the 2 industries it can reach: for every structure the answer is "only if a further fact applies".

Size does not change the answer in the 2 industries it can reach: at every size band the answer is "only if a further fact applies".

Each line is one run of the Rules Mate applicability engine for a single business profile, with the reason the engine gives:

• Pty Ltd company in real estate agents with 6–19 employees, turnover $1M–$3M: does not apply. Requires a trigger outside this questionnaire.
• Pty Ltd company in retail trade with 6–19 employees, turnover $1M–$3M: check whether it applies. applies only if you supply priority food (CoOL Information Standard)

The engine shows this obligation as "check whether this applies" when a business has industry: Retail trade / Manufacturing. It then applies only if you supply priority food (CoOL Information Standard). That fact is not something Rules Mate can infer from industry, structure or size.

When due

Continuous.

Frequency

Ongoing

Evidence to keep

Compliant labels, supplier declarations, percentage-of-AU calculations.

Status

Current

Priority

High

Maximum penalty: Civil penalty up to $16.665M for false/misleading representations (ACL)

Rules Mate has not yet classified the audit or assurance level for this obligation. Any audit, review or certification requirement is set by the regulator source listed below.

• Button + coin battery safety standard (mandatory): Suppliers of products containing button + coin batteries must meet 2022 mandatory standard.
• Comply with mandatory product safety standards + bans (ACL): Schedule 2 ACL — suppliers must comply with mandatory product safety standards + permanent bans.
• Avoid unfair contract terms in standard form consumer & small business contracts: From November 2023, unfair contract terms carry pecuniary penalties — up to $100M per term (from 28 March 2026).
• Honour consumer guarantees under the Australian Consumer Law: Goods and services supplied to consumers come with automatic statutory guarantees that cannot be excluded.
• Notify ACCC of a voluntary recall within 2 days: Suppliers must notify the ACCC within 2 days of initiating a voluntary consumer product recall.

Rules Mate tracks 7 published obligations tagged "consumer law", 2 of them rated critical. For a professional services Pty Ltd company with 6–19 employees operating in every state, 2 of those apply outright. This obligation is rated high priority, and is an ongoing duty.

Regulated by Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.

ACCC: Competition and consumer regulator administering the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 and Australian Consumer Law, plus industry codes and infrastructure access regimes.

• Australian Competition and Consumer Commission

CCA: Australia's competition + consumer protection law.

• Competition and Consumer Act 2010

Free tools that help with this obligation:

• Unfair contract terms checker
• Consumer guarantees checker
• Merger notification screener